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New Partnerships and Beginnings - February 2020
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Habitat CEO Danny Armenta (left) receiving a $25,110.00 check from Union Representative Angelica Ramos (right) and Mar Val Company Supervisor Jeremy Dobson (middle). 
A Disaster-Struck Community Comes Together
 
“This community just throws itself wherever help is needed,” said Jeremy Dobson, Company Supervisor of the Mar-Val Food Store in Prather.  A close-knit community struck by disaster came even closer together to help those displaced by the Creek Fire. The entire team at Mar-Val saw that the Prather community needed support, and just knew their regular shoppers would make it happen. During checkout time, shoppers were given the opportunity to donate to Habitat, and when they did, the store matched it dollar for dollar each and every single time, raising over $25,110 for the cause. 
 
Danny Armenta, Habitat CEO, shared during the check presentation the importance of all of us coming together to help each other, particularly a community faced with the level of devastation the Creek Fire displayed. 
 
“People are staying in RV's and campers on either their own property, or that of a friend, and we are aware of that," said Armenta. He continues, "We see that same type of challenge in communities even without a fire yet, the Creek Fire really opened our community's eyes to the devastation, and how we can help each other." 

Stay tuned for the updates on what exciting projects we will be undertaking in the Prather community in the near future.
Danny Armenta, Habitat CEO, hands Mario Gonzalez the keys to his brand new home.
From a Garage to Home
 
On a sunny afternoon, with a rainstorm just passing overhead, the Gonzalez family moved into their new home on Chance avenue in southeast Fresno. Although it was a small, socially-distanced celebration, the love, light, and excitement engulfed the entire Gonzalez family. 

The Gonzalez family's has struggled for many years with safe, decent and ridable shelter.  First, Mario, Martha, and their three children were blind-sighted by a landlord that sold their rental home giving them only 30 days to move out. Next, Mario was diagnosed with cancer resulting in being unable to work and losing income. The Gonzalez family at that point had no choice but to reside in a relative's garage. It was small, the roof leaked, and had no heating. They shared the main kitchen and bathroom, covered with mold and mildew with10  other family members.
The Gonzalez family standing in front of their new home
Storm Clouds Have Passed

After experiencing living in a garage with no privacy, Martha is very excited about sharing her new home with her family. "We've missed sitting at the table having dinner together,” she said. “Just to have our family together again, it's what I’ve wanted for a long time."

Mario emotionally added, "It's been 3 years of us living in a garage."  He went on, "We were back and forth…so finally being able ‘to get the cheese’, as the saying goes, feels really good and it just sets the tone that things are getting better for us!” 

Just before giving the keys to the Gonzalez family for the first time, Habitat CEO Danny Armenta summed it up: “This was a huge team effort led by God to bring this brand new home to your deserving family." 

Yes, the storm clouds for the Gonzalez family have finally passed by. Their brand new home beams a shining light of happiness and love, and those long-awaited family dinners with everyone sitting at the table as a family and sharing meals in their own home has finally come.
L-R: Habitat for Humanity Greater Fresno Area CEO Danny Armenta, Gloria and Raul Garcia, and Clovis Mayor Drew Bessinger. (Tori Lavon/Clovis Roundup)

Unique Partnership Surprises Couple with New Home  

For the last 25 years, Raul and Gloria Garcia have moved from city to city to find a home to call their own. They currently live in a small studio apartment in Fresno without heating or cooling located in a high crime area. 
 
There hasn’t been any room for Gloria to do the crafts she loves and Raul’s commute to his job at Anlin Windows is way across town in Clovis. This is what prompted the couple to complete an application to become Habitat homeowners. 
 
On January 28th, in partnership with the City of Clovis, Habitat invited them to complete a walkthrough of a home that could potentially become theirs if they were selected to become Habitat homeowners.  And, as fortune has it, it was located just minutes away from Raul’s job at Anlin Windows near Bullard and Sunnyside Avenues in Clovis.
 
Imagining the home could possibly be theirs, Raul explained, “Knowing this house would actually be ours,” his voice trailed off, “would be like tranquility.” 
 
Then, Habitat CEO Danny Armenta, Clovis Mayor Drew Bessinger and the City’s Community and Economic Development Director Andy Haussler began talking about the home’s history.  It had belonged to Sally Johnson, who was the first Habitat for Humanity homeowner in the area. She lived there for 25 years and was now ready for a new family, they explained.

“Our goal as a city is to have people both live and work in our community,” said Mayor Bessinger. He then presented a wooden box to the couple with a note inside and two golden hammers.
 
The note revealed that the Garcia family had indeed been selected to be the next owners of the home! The couple was ecstatic and in shock.
 
“I prayed this house would be for us,” Gloria said. Yet, humbly, she said she would have understood if it wasn’t. But, now that it really was for them, she was overwhelmed and grateful.  

“This is unique,” explained Armenta. “This home didn’t call to a growing family with children. Rather, it is a home especially designed just for a couple like you.”
 
The house is still undergoing renovations. We all look forward to the day it is finished and the Garcia’s will officially end their 25 year search for the home they can call their very own.
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Copyright © 2020 Habitat for Humanity Greater Fresno Area
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